


The Art of Kohl

by theletterdee



Series: Axios - "I Am Worthy" [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-06 07:23:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5407964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theletterdee/pseuds/theletterdee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>or “In Which Cassandra Helps Bree Put on Eyeliner and Realizes She Has a Mild Crush on the Herald”</p>
<p>for Ellie because she demanded I “do the thing”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Art of Kohl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [daringlybelieving](https://archiveofourown.org/users/daringlybelieving/gifts).



She was only resting her eyes for a moment, the relative silence of her tent comforting after a morning of aiding Cullen in training the Inquisition’s soldiers. Cassandra sighed, they were not an army by any standard, but with new recruits arriving each day after the Herald had temporarily sealed the Breach and aiding the Hinterlands and refugees, they worked with what they got; she had to admit that their passion was admirable.

Rolling her shoulders, Cassandra sighed again. She had paperwork, reports to look over, formal requests to sign off on, etc, but she loathed to actually start the busywork. Footsteps approached her tent as she glared down at a lengthy request and she didn’t look up when someone scratched on her tent’s canvas. “Come in.”

“Cassandra?” The shy question of her name made her look up and she could feel the corners of her eyes crinkling in a smile at the sight of their Herald.

“Yes, Herald?”

The slight elf ducked her head as she ground the toe of her boot in the ground, “Please, Cassandra, you know I prefer my name.”

Cassandra could see the tips of her ears turning pink and the Seeker’s smile grew, Bree Lavellan was a force of nature to be reckoned with but on a personal basis she was incredibly reserved, “Very well, Bree. What did you need?”

Bree looked up and moved closer to the table that served as Cassandra’s desk, “I wanted your help.”

“Oh?” The pink tint to Bree’s ears darkened, spreading across the tops of her freckled and tattooed cheeks as the younger woman nodded. Cassandra raised her eyebrows, “With what?”

“Um, well, growing up I would sometimes watch nearby human settlements, when we were near them that is. I would see the women wearing what I thought at the time was something like our  _vallaslin_  until my mother told me differently.”

“You mean make up?”

Bree nodded again, her hand coming up to brush away the loose strands of her hair away from her face, “The Dalish don’t use it and I was wondering if… if you could help me put the black around my eyes like you do.” The Herald stammered out the next part hurriedly, as if she thought Cassandra wouldn’t agree to do it, “I-It’s just, yours is so beautiful. I-I want to know how to do it…”

Cassandra could feel her cheeks warm and she was fairly certain Bree could see the blush spreading. The Herald thought her very basic and traditional kohl beautiful? Cassandra looked down at her hands, a shy and fond smile gracing her face before she looked back up at the anxious elf. “I will show you, Bree.”

“You will?” Bree grinned when Cassandra nodded and she could help herself when she impulsively hugged the sitting warrior, startling her. “Oh thank you!”

Cassandra froze momentarily, but wrapped her arms around the giddy Herald all the same, “It is no problem for me, I would enjoy teaching you how to apply kohl.”

They left Cassandra’s tent and walked towards Bree’s room in Haven, the Herald practically bouncing with each step as her excitement grew. It amused Cassandra and lightened her heart to see the look of pure enthusiasm on the younger woman’s face after she’d gone through so much in the past few weeks since the Conclave. The sunlight glinted off Bree’s vibrant red hair, down for once and curling around her narrow shoulders, reminding Cassandra of fire or the early moments of a sunset. She caught her thoughts and silently reprimanded herself, now was not the time.

Bree led Cassandra into her room and the Seeker closed the door behind them, “What’s first?”

Her enthusiasm made Cassandra smile, “First we sit in front of a mirror so you can watch as I apply it and then if you want to, you can try it yourself.”

“Excellent idea.”

Cassandra sat down in front of Bree, shaking her head with a fond smile since the elf seemed to vibrate in her chair, “Bree.”

“Sorry.”

Cassandra quickly took off her gloves and laid them on the top of the wooden vanity Josephine had delivered to the Herald a week ago and readied the kohl before turning back to Bree. She gently cupped Bree’s chin in her hand to hold her head steady, “Applying kohl is simple enough in theory, but actually doing it takes some practice and a steady hand, something that you as a hunter should already have.”

“Alright,” Bree responded.

“I’ll do the bottom first, so keep your head still,” Cassandra carefully applied the kohl right below Bree’s eye, extending the dark line a bit beyond the corner of it. “Look down, please.” Bree did as she was told and Cassandra finished outlining in kohl, easily repeating the same on the other eye. “There,” she sat back after a few moments.

Bree looked up at at Cassandra, her golden-green eyes appeared bigger than before, emphasized by the kohl that contrasted with her pale skin and the emerald green of her branch like tattoos applied to her cheeks and forehead, “How do I look?”

Cassandra’s breath caught in her throat and a revelation hit her at the Herald’s innocent question. ‘ _By the Maker, no, do **not**  tell me I have a crush on the Herald._’

“Cassandra?”

“See for yourself,” Cassandra gestured to the mirror, breathing a sigh of relief when Bree listened and moved her gaze to the reflective surface.

Bree’s mouth dropped open slightly in surprise, her hand coming up to touch her face near the perfectly applied lines of kohl that seemed to make her eyes appear wider, elegant, the golden tones coming out more than before, “By Mythal… it’s amazing, Cassandra! Thank you so much!” Bree hugged the Seeker again, this time planting a small peck to her cheek as someone knocked on the door.

Cassandra felt her entire face flush when Bree kissed her cheek and she froze in shock while Bree answered the door, ‘ _I have a crush on the Herald of Andraste, Maker help me._ ’


End file.
